Furniture tray

ABSTRACT

A furniture tray is provided for resting on the arm top of a piece of furniture. A downward extending member is mounted to the tray front. A resilient, U-shaped gripping member is mounted to the downward extending member at a selected position and extends inward and engages and grips the furniture arm so as to positively hold to tray on the furniture arm top. The resilient, U-shaped gripping member may have converging forward sides and parallel rearward sides so as to be adapted to fit furniture arms of varying configuration.

United States atent 1 Steanson, Jr.

FURNITURE TRAY Norman Grant Steanson, Jr., 1 14 E. 7th St., No. 202, Topeka, Kans. 66603 Filed: Nov. 1, 1972 Appl. N0.: 302,825

Inventor:

US. Cl. 108/42, 248/226 E Int. Cl A471) 37/00 Field of Search 108/42, 43, 47; 248/226 B, 248/226 E, 27.8; 297/160, 161, 162, 188,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1972 Douglas 297/194 5/1965 Nathan et a]. 108/47 Apr. 30, 1974 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 679,189 2/1964 Canada 248/226 E 769,408 3/1957 Great Britain 108/47 Primary ExaminerWilliam Hv Schultz [57] ABSTRACT A furniture tray is provided for resting on the arm top of a piece of furniture. A downward extending member is mounted to the tray front. A resilient, U-shaped gripping member is mounted to the downward extending member at a selected position and extends inward and engages and grips the furniture arm so as to positively hold to tray on the furniture arm top. The resilient, U-shaped gripping member may have converging forward sides and parallel rearward sides so as to be adapted to fit furniture arms of varying configuration.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEBAH; 30 m4 FIGURE l FIGURE 2 FIGURE 3 FURNITURETRAY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to furniture trays adapted to be securely held on the arms of furniture pieces such as the arm of an arm chair.

In the prior art there are means provided for securing a tray to the arms .of chairs by either biasing a member coupled to the tray against the side of the furniture arm or providing a resilient member coupled with the tray that biases itself against the side of the chair arm. However, in all these apparatuses wherein the gripping member is either biased against the side of the chair arm or is itself resilient and biased against the side of the chair arm the tray may be knocked ofi the chair arm if the tray is struck with sufficient force and the bias overcome. This results in spilling the tray contents on thefurniture and fioor which results in a messy and sometimes expensive cleaning job. In the prior art devices have also been provided wherein the tray is positively clamped to the chair arm but these prior art devices are complicated and expensive compared to the instant invention.

A problem solved by this invention is that a furniture tray for the arms of furniture that positively holds the tray on the furniture arm so that the tray cannot be accidentally knocked off the furniture arm sideways without breaking a member of the furniture tray is provided.

Another problem that is solved by this invention is that afurniture tray is provided that holds the tray on the furniture arm positively in a simple and economical manner.

Another problem that is solved by this inventionis that a furniture tray is provided that positively holds the tray on the furniture arm so that the tray cannot be knocked off thereby spilling the contents thereof such as food and drink which results in a messy and sometimes expensive cleaning job.

Another problem that is solved by this invention is that a furniture tray is provided wherein the furniture tray is adapted to fit furniture arms of varying configurations.

Another problem that is solved by this invention is that a furniture tray is provided wherein the gripping member engages and grips the furniture arm from the front of the furniture arm so as to better grip the fumiture arm.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A furniture tray is provided for resting on the arm top of a piece of furniture. A downward extending member BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the furniture tray in place on an arm chair arm;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring in greater detail to the drawings, a conventionalarm chair 2 is shown. The fumiture tray is shown on a chair arm 4' but of course the furniture tray could be used on any piece of furniture having an arm such as a sofa or sofa bed and the furniture tray is equally well adapted to fit on these as well as the shown conventional arm chair 2.

A tray rests on the chair arm top 3. The tray 6 is shown as having a pair of glass recesses 8 and a food recess 10 as you might find in a conventional food tray. However, the tray 6 could be of any configuration desired to fit the purpose for which the tray 6 was intended such as, for example, substantially flat for holding papers, pencils and books.

A downward extending member 12 is mounted to the tray front 14 at 16 by bonding. The downward extending member 12 also could be mounted to the tray front 14 by bolting or thermoplastic welding. The downward extending member 12 has a plurality of holes 18 in the lower portion thereof.

A resilient, U-shaped gripping member 20 is provided. The resilient, U-shaped gripping member 20 has an attaching hole 22 and has inward converging forward sides 26 in the preferred embodiment but could be just conventionally U-shaped if desired. The gripping member 20 is bolted to the downward extending member 12 by bolt 28 bolted through attaching hole 22 and a selected hole-of the holes 18 and extends inward and engages and grips the chair arm 4. If the furniture tray was designed to fit a particular furniture arm the gripping member 20 could be rigid and with a configuration that would best snugly fit the particular furniture arm to hold the tray 6 on the furniture arm even more positively.

A plurality of holes 18 are provided so that the gripping member 20 may be attached to the downward extending member 12 at the one of the holes 18 that makes the gripping member 20 best fit the particular configuration of the furniture arm the furniture tray is used on. The closer the gripping member 20 is mounted to the tray 6 generally the more positive the holding of the tray 6 on the arm of the piece of furniture. For a particular furniture arm the gripping member 20 could be mounted to the downward extending member at a best preselected position and only one hole 18 would be needed.

The converging forward sides 26 and parallel rearward sides 27 are provided so that the gripping member 20 is adapted to better fit arms of furniture of varying thickness and configuration. As can be seen, the fumiture arm may be of various thicknesses and the parallel rearward sides 27 will still grip the furniture arm.

Thus the gripping member 20 grips the chair arm 4 and positively holds the tray 6 on the chair arm 4 so that the tray 6 may not be accidentally knocked off the chair arm 4. 3

Thus the solution to the enumerated problems is provided.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific manufacture shown and described but departure may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims Without departing from the spirit of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

I claim:

1. A furniture tray for fumiture arms which comprises:

a. a tray resting on the furniture arm top;

b. a downward extending member mounted to the tray front;

0. a resilient, U-shaped gripping member mounted to the downward extending member and disposed and inward substantially parallel to the tray to engage and grip the furniture arm so that the tray is positively held on the furniture arm top.

2. A furniture tray for furniture arms as recited in claim 1 further comprising means for mounting the resilient, U-shaped member to the downward extending member at different selected positions so that the resilient, U-shaped gripping member is adapted to fit fumiture arms of varying configuration.

3. A furniture tray for furniture arms as recited in claim 1 wherein the resilient, U-shaped gripping member further comprises inward converging forward sides and parallel rearward sides so that the resilient, U- shaped gripping member is adapted to engage and grip furniture arms of varying configuration.

4. A furniture tray for furniture arms as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

a. means for mountingthe resilient, U-shaped gripping member to the downward extending member at different selected positions so that the resilient, U-shaped gripping member is adapted to fit fumiture arms of varying configuration;

b. the resilient, U-shaped gripping member having inward converging forward sides and parallel rearward sides so that the resilient, U-shaped gripping member is adapted to engage and grip furniture arms of varying configuration.

5. A furniture tray for a particular furniture arm which comprises:

a. a tray resting on the furniture arm top;

b. a downward extending member mounted to the tray front;

c. a rigid, U-shaped gripping member mounted to the downward extending member and disposed inward substantially parallel to the tray to engage and grip the particular furniture arm so that the tray is positively held on the furniture arm top.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTEFICATE 0F CORRECTION Patent No. 3807 Dated 1974 Inventor(Q() Norman Steanson, Jr.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Co1umn 3, line H, eliminate the second "and".

Signed and sealed this 27th day of August 1974.

(SEAL) Attes'tz MCCOY M. GIBSON, JR. C. MARSHALL DANN At'testipg Ofiicer Commissiqner of Patents r OHM O-1050 (10-69) USCOMM DC Goa-Ibpfig u.s. covrnuuznr PRINTING OFFICE: nu o-au-au 

1. A furniture tray for furniture arms which comprises: a. a tray resting on the furniture arm top; b. a downward extending member mounted to the tray front; c. a resilient, U-shaped gripping member mounted to the downward extending member and disposed and inward substantially parallel to the tray to engage and grip the furniture arm so that the tray is positively held on the furniture arm top.
 2. A furniture tray for furniture arms as recited in claim 1 further comprising means for mounting the resilient, U-shaped member to the downward extending mEmber at different selected positions so that the resilient, U-shaped gripping member is adapted to fit furniture arms of varying configuration.
 3. A furniture tray for furniture arms as recited in claim 1 wherein the resilient, U-shaped gripping member further comprises inward converging forward sides and parallel rearward sides so that the resilient, U-shaped gripping member is adapted to engage and grip furniture arms of varying configuration.
 4. A furniture tray for furniture arms as recited in claim 1 further comprising: a. means for mounting the resilient, U-shaped gripping member to the downward extending member at different selected positions so that the resilient, U-shaped gripping member is adapted to fit furniture arms of varying configuration; b. the resilient, U-shaped gripping member having inward converging forward sides and parallel rearward sides so that the resilient, U-shaped gripping member is adapted to engage and grip furniture arms of varying configuration.
 5. A furniture tray for a particular furniture arm which comprises: a. a tray resting on the furniture arm top; b. a downward extending member mounted to the tray front; c. a rigid, U-shaped gripping member mounted to the downward extending member and disposed inward substantially parallel to the tray to engage and grip the particular furniture arm so that the tray is positively held on the furniture arm top. 